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Increased Sensitization to Mold Allergens Measured by Intradermal Skin Testing following Hurricanes

Objective. To report on changes in sensitivity to mold allergens determined by changes in intradermal skin testing reactivity, after exposure to two severe hurricanes. Methods. A random, retrospective allergy charts review divided into 2 groups of 100 patients each: Group A, patients tested between...

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Autores principales: Saporta, Diego, Hurst, David
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5401734/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28491100
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/2793820
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author Saporta, Diego
Hurst, David
author_facet Saporta, Diego
Hurst, David
author_sort Saporta, Diego
collection PubMed
description Objective. To report on changes in sensitivity to mold allergens determined by changes in intradermal skin testing reactivity, after exposure to two severe hurricanes. Methods. A random, retrospective allergy charts review divided into 2 groups of 100 patients each: Group A, patients tested between 2003 and 2010 prior to hurricanes, and Group B, patients tested in 2014 and 2015 following hurricanes. Reactivity to eighteen molds was determined by intradermal skin testing. Test results, age, and respiratory symptoms were recorded. Chi-square test determined reactivity/sensitivity differences between groups. Results. Posthurricane patients had 34.6 times more positive results (p < 0.0001) at weaker dilutions, all tested molds were found to be more reactive, and 95% had at least one positive test versus only 62% before the hurricanes (p < 0.0001); average mold reactivity was 55% versus 16% while 17% of patients reacted to the entire panel versus none before the hurricanes (p < 0.0001). The posthurricane population was younger (p < 0.001) and included more patients with asthma or lower respiratory symptoms (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Reactivity and sensitization to mold allergens increased compared to patients before the hurricanes. This supports climatologists' hypothesis that environmental changes resulting from hurricanes can be a health risk as reflected in increased allergic sensitivities and symptoms and has significant implications for physicians treating patients from affected areas.
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spelling pubmed-54017342017-05-10 Increased Sensitization to Mold Allergens Measured by Intradermal Skin Testing following Hurricanes Saporta, Diego Hurst, David J Environ Public Health Research Article Objective. To report on changes in sensitivity to mold allergens determined by changes in intradermal skin testing reactivity, after exposure to two severe hurricanes. Methods. A random, retrospective allergy charts review divided into 2 groups of 100 patients each: Group A, patients tested between 2003 and 2010 prior to hurricanes, and Group B, patients tested in 2014 and 2015 following hurricanes. Reactivity to eighteen molds was determined by intradermal skin testing. Test results, age, and respiratory symptoms were recorded. Chi-square test determined reactivity/sensitivity differences between groups. Results. Posthurricane patients had 34.6 times more positive results (p < 0.0001) at weaker dilutions, all tested molds were found to be more reactive, and 95% had at least one positive test versus only 62% before the hurricanes (p < 0.0001); average mold reactivity was 55% versus 16% while 17% of patients reacted to the entire panel versus none before the hurricanes (p < 0.0001). The posthurricane population was younger (p < 0.001) and included more patients with asthma or lower respiratory symptoms (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Reactivity and sensitization to mold allergens increased compared to patients before the hurricanes. This supports climatologists' hypothesis that environmental changes resulting from hurricanes can be a health risk as reflected in increased allergic sensitivities and symptoms and has significant implications for physicians treating patients from affected areas. Hindawi 2017 2017-04-09 /pmc/articles/PMC5401734/ /pubmed/28491100 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/2793820 Text en Copyright © 2017 Diego Saporta and David Hurst. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Saporta, Diego
Hurst, David
Increased Sensitization to Mold Allergens Measured by Intradermal Skin Testing following Hurricanes
title Increased Sensitization to Mold Allergens Measured by Intradermal Skin Testing following Hurricanes
title_full Increased Sensitization to Mold Allergens Measured by Intradermal Skin Testing following Hurricanes
title_fullStr Increased Sensitization to Mold Allergens Measured by Intradermal Skin Testing following Hurricanes
title_full_unstemmed Increased Sensitization to Mold Allergens Measured by Intradermal Skin Testing following Hurricanes
title_short Increased Sensitization to Mold Allergens Measured by Intradermal Skin Testing following Hurricanes
title_sort increased sensitization to mold allergens measured by intradermal skin testing following hurricanes
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5401734/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28491100
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/2793820
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